The Houston Ship Channel reopened to two-way traffic after salvage crews removed two gasoline barges damaged in a weekend collision with a deep-draft vessel, officials said.

About 11,280 barrels of gasoline spilled into the channel near Bayport, Texas, after a 755-foot (230-metre) tanker collided over the weekend with a Kirby Inland Marine tugboat towing two barges containing the fuel.

The removal of the Kirby Corp-operated barges was completed and two-way traffic resumed, according to Bayport Channel Collision Response, a group overseeing cleanup and salvage operations. ■